The Ultimate Warriors

Multimedia artist Bear Witness mines our media environment for pop cultural images of First Nations people as depicted in film, television and through the internet. In his work he remixes such representations in a variety of ways, producing visual and sonic variations that on the one hand act as a political indictment of racial profiling and the stereotypes that circulate at large, and on the other hand express mesmerizing confabulations that situates his work as something new. While mainstream media images of First Nations often constitute a form of cultural appropriation, Bear Witness engages in an emotive counter-appropriation, taking possession of the images in order to break with the structures of such representations. In this sense Bear’s media artwork is consonant with his musical project as a member of the DJ crew A Tribe Called Red, a group that has been making a global impact on the electronic music scene with a truly unique sound.

Gallery Hours: Tuesday – Friday, Noon – 6 pm; Saturdays Noon – 4pm

PAVED Arts acknowledges the support of our members, volunteers and partners, and of our principal funders: Canada Council for the Arts, Saskatchewan Arts Board, SaskCulture, SaskLotteries, the City of Saskatoon and the National Film Board of Canada.